Cowboys from Hell is the fifth studio album and major label debut by American heavy metal band Pantera, released on July 24, 1990, by Atco Records.

Seeking a record label to release their album, the group received firm contract offers from both Epic and Roadracer, who had expressed some interest in signing them.

[9] After being turned down "28 times by every major label on the face of the Earth", Atco Records representative Mark Ross was asked by his boss, Derek Shulman (who was interested in signing Pantera), to see the band perform after Hurricane Hugo stranded him in Texas.

[12][13][14][15][16] Pantera adopted a new sound and attitude, and the writing of what would become Cowboys from Hell saw the band exploring darker subject matters, while the guitar would be notably heavier.

Influences and inspirations to the making of the album, as well as its musical direction, were Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, ZZ Top, Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax, Testament, Overkill, Faith No More, King's X, Soundgarden, Minor Threat, Mercyful Fate, Savatage, Voivod and then-upcoming band Exhorder.

[4][21] "The last tracks to be written were "Primal Concrete Sledge" and "Clash with Reality" whilst a song titled "The Will to Survive" was discarded early in the recording sessions.

One key track to emerge during the writing was "Cemetery Gates", a seven-minute power ballad that would be the first song to show both their diversity and Anselmo's vocal range; the acoustic intro was written last by Brown.

Anselmo states that he jumped off a bar stool to get high up in the air and that it took him about ten takes until the cameramen got the shot of the desired style.

The band's chemistry really begins to gel with collective symmetry here, as a pre-Dimebag Darrell (he was known as Diamond Darrell back then) rips the strings of his axe like a rabid weasel, frontman Phil Anselmo following in kind with chaotic vocal utterances, and the rhythm section of Vinnie Paul and Rex Brown keeping the rhythms in check and the whole mess glued together with low end prowess.AllMusic said of the album:[35] Pantera's breakthrough album, Cowboys from Hell, is largely driven by the band's powerful rhythm section and guitarist Diamond Darrell's unbelievably forceful riffing, which skittered around the downbeats to produce unexpected rhythmic phrases and accents, as well as his inventive soloing.On September 14, 2010, a 20th anniversary edition was released with a remastered mix from the original analog recordings.

[39] The third disc of the deluxe set, Cowboys from Hell: The Demos, was released as a separate limited edition vinyl LP at the same time.

[45] In 1991, Rob Halford performed with the band onstage, which led Pantera (along with Annihilator) to open for Judas Priest on its first show in Europe.

They also opened for bands like Skid Row, Sepultura, Fates Warning, Prong, Mind Over Four, Morbid Angel, White Zombie and Sanctuary, and co-headlined a North American tour with Wrathchild America.

[45] The band eventually landed a billing for the Monsters of Rock festival with AC/DC, Mötley Crüe, Metallica and The Black Crowes in September 1991, where they played to a crowd of over 500,000 in celebration of the new freedom of performing Western music in the former Soviet Union shortly before its collapse three months later.